American Style Pulled Pork 'n' Beans

My original plan was to make a home made baked beans recipe, however as per usual I got excited when I saw a pork shoulder in the grocery store.  So I decided to make something a little different.  I've been posting a lot of vegetarian food here lately.  I LOVE a good vegetarian meal and try to eat veggo at least 1-2 nights a week lately.  I think it has helped my weight loss actually.  But tonight I wanted to make some good hearty old fashioned American fare that could be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Traditional pork and beans uses haricot beans, but I have a soft spot for butter beans and kidney beans, so please forgive me this transgression. It is a great meal to make on a Sunday when you have time to slow cook some meat and take your time with the beans.  The recipe will feed 6-8 depending on your serving size, and it really does taste better each successive night as the flavours infuse more into the sauce.  Served with a piece of crusty bread or just on its own, this is a heart and tummy warming treat.

Ingredients

• 700g pulled pork (click here for my recipe - I used the same amount of spices, and just leave out the chipotle BBQ sauce)
• 420g can butter beans, drained
• 420g can kidney beans, drained
• 2 x 420g cans of diced Italian tomatoes
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 small red capsicum, diced
• 200g baby spinach
• 250g shortcut bacon, diced
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tbs Worchestershire sauce
• 2 garlic cloves - finely chopped or minced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 90g can corn, drained
• parsley, to serve

Potential Spins

Switch out veggies to change it up.  A mirepoix of onion, celery, carrot and garlic would be a good base, or add some grated zucchini.  For a vegetarian option just leave out the meat - I have made it before as a home made baked beans recipe without any meat and it was lovely.  If you don't have time to slow cook the pork, you can purchase pre-packaged pulled pork in some grocery stores nowadays.  Alternatively, you could pan fry pork chops, slice them and stir them through for a different texture.

Method

1. Cook the pulled pork in  your slow cooker as per this recipe for approximately 5 hours (omitting the Chipotle BBQ Sauce).  Yes - it is a long time.  Yes, it is worth it.
2. In the last hour of slow cooking, fry the onion and bacon in a small amount of oil.  I prefer rice bran oil because it has a higher burning point before it becomes unhealthy. Add capsicum  and fry until the bacon is browned and the onion is translucent.  Add garlic, tomato paste and spices, stir for 1 minute.
   
3. Stir through tomatoes, Worchestershire sauce, corn, dijon mustard, salt and pepper.  Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until it is at your desired consistency.  
   
4. Stir through the pulled pork, beans and spinach.  Cook, stirring for a further 5 minutes.
5. Top with parsley and enjoy!
   
   
   

Our Take Aways

This meal  is melt in your mouth deliciousness and it makes so MUCH!  I just love it.  Om nom nom can I have another?

Also please excuse the low quality of these photos - uploading them seems to be reducing their quality for some reason and I can't seem to fix the problem.  Hopefully I'll get it sorted asap!